WJEC Eduqas GCSE Sociology Revision Guide

65 Class, life-chances and inequality Strengths of the argument that Britain is now a classless society are: There are fewer manual jobs than in the past. Shipbuilding, mining and steel work have been in decline in the UK. The minimum wage helps everyone get a good wage. The percentage of young people going to university has increased from 3.4 per cent in 1950, to 8.4 per cent in 1970, 19.3 per cent in 1990 and 33 per cent in 2000. In 2017 the figure was almost half. Trade union membership is falling in the UK. Being part of a trade union was part of working-class identity. Postmodernist sociologists argue that social class is disappearing. People no longer have a job for life. People get their identity from the products they buy and their social media identity, which they create themselves. Weaknesses of the argument that Britain is now a classless society are: The government is very concerned about the disadvantages in education faced by poorer children. A report published by NHS England in March 2018 showed that life expectancy and mental health problems are still strongly affected by deprivation. Working-class people are most likely to be deprived. Positions of power in government are still dominated by those who are privately educated. 29 per cent of the 2017 MPs elected went to private school. This is four times greater than that of the population as a whole, although this is an improvement from previous elections. In 1983, 51 per cent of MPs were privately educated and that figure was 35 per cent in 2010. Strengths of the argument that social class does not affect life-chances and power are: MPs in parliament in 2017 were less ‘posh’ than ever. There were over 51 per cent who went to comprehensive schools. Access to health care and education is available to all in the UK. Loans for university fees do not have to be paid back unless students earn wages over £21,000 a year, which is close to the national average wage of £25,000. Numbers attending university are up. There are many examples of successful people who have worked their way up from poor backgrounds, such as Alan Sugar. Weaknesses of the argument that social class does not affect life-chances and power are: Working-class people are more likely to be victims of crime and more likely to be in prison. Working-class people are more likely to be working in the ‘gig’economy or on zero hours contracts. As such they have no job security, fewer rights and are not entitled to holiday pay or redundancy. Working-class people are stereotyped in the media. Most of the characters in soaps like Coronation Street and EastEnders are working class and are often linked to crime. This may lead to prejudice and discrimination. The ‘Does class still exist?’debate is a complex one. You may have to answer a 9-mark question like this. Create coloured cards for for and against the disappearance of class. Practice your introduction to the question: Does class still exist? Basil Bernstein wrote Elaborated and Restricted Code (1971) which studied the differences in the ways middle-class and working- class children speak. He found that working-class children found it hard to understand the ‘posh’talk used by teachers, which he called ‘elaborated code’. He called the local accents and slang used by working- class children ‘restricted code’. Some sociologists have developed his ideas to claim that working- class language is inferior. Others, such as William Labov , argue that working-class speech is just different, neither better or worse than middle-class. Whether this is true or not, working-class children may be at a disadvantage in school. Which code do you speak? Can you speak both? T h i n k l ink The education system is one of the clearest ways that the class system can be seen. What advantages do children who go to private schools have? Link the information from the education topic to this. What advantages does the upper class have in the UK? Knowledge check 1. Outline what is meant by ‘social class’. (2 marks) 2. Identify two ways that social class can affect life-chances. (4 marks) 3. Explain why some sociologists say that social class is no longer important. (4 marks) 4. ‘Working-class people have different life-chances compared to others.’Do you agree? (9 marks)